HOUSTON — After a crushing loss in Game 2 of the ALDS, the Yankees came back and knocked off the Indians, making Joe Girardi’s mistakes in that game a thing of the past.

If they don’t pull off a similar feat against the Astros in the ALCS, the Yankees likely won’t be able to forget the way Game 2 ended in a 2-1 defeat, a second straight one-run defeat, as Gary Sanchez couldn’t corral a short-hop throw from Didi Gregorius that let Jose Altuve score the winning run.

With Altuve on first and one out, Carlos Correa ripped a double to right-center, where Aaron Judge got to it and threw to Gregorius at second. Gregorius paused and fired home, but Altuve got in safely when Sanchez couldn’t handle Gregorius’ low throw to the plate.

It set off a wild celebration at Minute Maid Park — and put the Yankees back into an 0-2 hole, trying to figure out what happened.

“We had him,” Todd Frazier said. “We had him dead at home. It’s just one of those things. The ball was low [and] we couldn’t make the play. The rest is history.”

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“The bottom line is he’s going to be out and I dropped the ball,” Sanchez said through an interpreter.

Altuve agreed.

“I saw Gary Sanchez go for the ball way before I touched home plate,” Altuve said. “If he catches the ball, he’s got me out, but it’s not an easy throw to catch.”

Altuve was waved home by third base coach Gary Pettis, a former speedster.

“We like to put pressure on teams,” Houston manager A.J. Hinch said. “Obviously, we run the bases that way [and] we sometimes can be a little too aggressive. But, man, when it works out, that feeling that we applied enough pressure to make a difference is key for us.”

“Against Chapman, you’re not gonna get a lot of hits,” Altuve said. “You have to take the chance.”

Girardi said he hoped there might be interference on the play, as Correa popped up after sliding into second, blocking Gregorius as he tried to make the throw.

“He jumped up a little bit, but I am not making excuses,’’ the shortstop said. “He didn’t touch me. I got hit a little bit, but I am not going to blame him.’’

On the back end of the play, Girardi acknowledged Altuve would have been out had Sanchez gathered the throw.

“If [Sanchez] comes up with it, it’s an out,” the manager said. “He wasn’t able to come up with it. He did his best and wasn’t able to come up with it.”

Girardi also defended Judge’s decision to throw to second, which Gregorius said he was expecting.

“I think he did the right thing,” Girardi said. “He got it to Didi. … He got it to the guy on the field with the best arm. And he had to cut it off and he got it in quickly and we had a shot at home. It’s not Aaron, nothing with Aaron.”

And Chapman, who hadn’t surrendered a run in 6 ²/₃ innings this postseason, walked off with a loss.

“On a play like that, anything can happen,” Chapman said through an interpreter. “I think we had a chance to get an out there, but that didn’t happen. Unfortunately, it’s not what we wanted there and we lost the game.’’